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July 10, 1870
10th of July in the year of Our Lord, Eighteen Hundred Seventy I am found out. Our little adventurers group's latest escapade has resulted in revealing my true nature to my companions. There was simply no other way to escape from this great peril unharmed. We had arrived in Constantinople to refresh our supplies and rest our travel weary bodies. And whom should I encounter upon disembarking? That scoundrel Ali Ibben Hasan! More of a thief than anything else, but a shrewd negotiator and well connected quartermaster. Always one to play the fool, I feign innocence and revert to calling him by the name I know will most irritate the man. I'm sure he thinks I am ever the stalwart British Imperialist fool who can't even be bothered to learn the names of the locals who would be utterly beneath notice. In a sense he's right in that I don't really care about him or his kind, but it isn't because of any sense of arrogance but one of professional competition. But Ali was apparently fooled by my act and offered to aid us in procuring supplies. I hardly trust him, but I know he'll cheat us far less than some random shop-keep in this area. Besides that, it's that drunk Masterson's money at any rate. We headed off to a local tavern and partake of local coffee and other comestibles. Ali begins to explain a little of the local political scene, and I admit that I did not pay much attention. The gist of it seemed to be that there is a sort of civil war going on in the city between the various ethnic groups who are vying for or against equal treatment. It grows late, and I acquire sleeping quarters for us in the British sector of the city. The following morning we are surprised to be greeted by a smoldering corpse outside of our Hotel. Naturally we flee the scene as quickly as possible, lest we be charged with the horrible act, and return to the relative safety of the airship. Ali comes round, bringing word about the murder. He seems genuinely interested in this crime and for a fleeting second I consider the idea that he has done it in order to frame us but just as quickly dismiss the idea. The corpse was a local official named Mehood Pasha and was in charge of enforcement of the civil rights laws. Orpheus seems much more interested in this matter than the rest of us and suggests that we investigate. Always game for something to do, I agree. We head to the local morgue, and with a bit of sleight of tongue if you will, I convince the attendant to allow us to inspect the corpse. Orpheus sets down to do what he does best and in short order the corpse begins to speak. Unfortunately for us he speaks only the local Arabic dialect. We write down the sounds as best we can hoping that Ali will be able to translate for us. Ali cannot understand any of it with the exception of the word "Hashshāshīn". Ali explains that they are a group of assassins who kill anyone they deem unworthy. Ali also manages to surmise that this Pasha character was killed in the Jewish sector of the city and not the British. We travel there to investigate. After speaking with some locals, it seems that the victim had been in the area seeking any complaints from the residents. Suddenly, Dr. Orpheus noticed that we were being followed. Never one to back down from a fight I think I can win, while Orpheus slipped into the shadows I turned to confront our pursuers. Not apparently understanding English, they approach us and draw swords. Deftly, I shot one squarely in the torso, and striking him down. Another attacked, but I dodged and seeing an opening return sword with bullet. This left me open to a jab from yet another opponent who merely scratched me. The two I shot stumbled off and I am attacked again. Once fended off and I returned a blow, which was unfortunately blocked. As I was about to shoot him, Orpheus leapt out and struck a hard blow, knocking him out of the way of my shot but injuring him none the less. As the injured ruffians sulked off, Dr. Orpheus tended to my small wound. We discover that our attackers have left more behind than small injuries when Orpheus discovers a dagger with a strange symbol on it. Ali confirms that this symbol is that of the "Hashshāshīn". We again struck out to find the location where Mehood Pasha was killed and burned. After much wandering, we manage to find an abandoned old temple. Investigations inside indicate that something was indeed burned inside this structure with Ting Wu indicating that a lot of magic had been used in this area. Verdie, our engineer, locates some sort of mechanical mechanism inside the walls. Quite reflexively I believe, Dr. Orpheus immediately sticks his sword cane into the gears of the contraption. Aside from quite a noise, this accomplishes little to nothing. Rolling her eyes, Ting Wu begins to cast a spell... for twelve minutes. Suddenly the stone covering the mechanism turns spontaneously to sand and we are able to pass through the once solid wall into darkness. Quickly I take Orpheus's cane, some cotton gauze, and using the brandy from my emergency supply fashion a quick torch. With the light we find that we are in fact in the sewer. The stench is over-powering but we trek deeper into the tunnels. Suddenly Orpheus screams at me to extinguish the torch. Now in the dark, Ting Wu begins to summon a magical lantern to light our way. At the same time that the light appears, the ground beneath and above us begin to shake violently; an Earthquake! The tunnel behind us collapses and the shaking ceased. Eventually we made our way down the tunnels and out to the sea. We returned to the airship to refresh and change clothes. While changing, we are surprised to find the local constabulary outside of our airship. We greet them and in order to answer their questions and accusations we lead them to the abandoned temple. I don't know precisely what happened, but shortly after we entered the temple, a huge firey faerie appeared, I believe they are called D'Jinn, and began to attack the guards. With everyone fleeing or distracted with battling the D'Jinn, I realize that there is no way that we are going to defeat this great evil through ordinary means. Only something of equal power stands a chance. I slip to the side and begin shedding my clothes (I had already ruined one set of clothes and saw no reason to destroy another) to prepare and change. I had been in my human form for so long, I had forgotten how painful the transformation can be. Well not exactly pain such as from a sword or strike of the fist, but a dull throbbing deep inside you like an old nagging wound that flares up from time to time. The transformation complete, I lept into battle with the D'Jinn, striking him down. I wonder who was more surprised, the D'Jinn or my erstwhile companions? The battle was quickly over with. Too tired to immediately change back to human form I remained as I was. Shock and disbelief seemed to be the prevailing mood amongst my friends. Well all except for Ting Wu who seemed merely to be surprised but not shaken the way the others seemed to be. Ultimately we returned to the airship and I returned to my Human form. A few days later we finished taking on our supplies and continued on our journey. But not before Ting Wu and I had a little "chat" as it were. The practical upshot of this was that I will be assisting Miss Wu with learning handle firearms and in exchange she will help me further develop my Sorcery skills (Sorcery to Average+). We shall see what the future holds and how the others will react to this revelation of mine.